1. The Experiential Essence of
Entrepreneurial Cognition:
How Understanding
Entrepreneurial Thinking
Enhances Teaching & Practice
Norris Krueger, PhD –
Entrepreneurship Northwest
July 2012

2. http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=exmwSxv7XJI

3. See a difference/
3

4. We know how to teach individuals
(and organizations and communities)
to think more entrepreneurially, to
truly make a difference; we now
understand why and how.

5. Overview
 Important new theory & evidence
 Replicable models of entrepreneurial
learning
 Antecedents & consequences of
entrepreneurial learning
 Implications for teaching, practice,
public policy

6.  Important new theory & evidence
 Critical review:
entrepreneurial cognition
entrepreneurial learning
processes
 Exciting new multi-disciplinary
opportunities
e.g. neuro-entrepreneurship

7. Entrepreneurial Thinking:
A primer?
 Intentions:
From intent to “informed” intent?
 Basic model:

8. Entrepreneurial Intentions
Personal Desirability
Perceived
Desirability
Perceived
Social Norms
PERCEPTION of
OPPORTUNITY INTENTIONS Action
Perceived
Self-Efficacy
Perceived Precipitating Event
Feasibility
Perceived
Collective Efficacy

9. Entrepreneurial Learning:
from Novice to Expert!
 Knowledge Content? or Structure?
 Perceived Barriers?
 Pattern recognition?
 Deep Beliefs (role identity?)
 Importance of understanding
entrepreneurial emotion
 Understanding cognitive change...

10. Two Ways to Learn
Behavioristic
- fill the bucket
-define the buckets
Constructivistic
- light the fire (or fan it!)
- assume knowledge structures evolve
(often discontinuously)

11. Change in what we
know (content)
Novice Entrepreneurial
Mindset Expert
Change in how we know it
(knowledge structures)
Change in Deep Beliefs
Critical Developmental
Experiences
11

12. Key Mechanisms
 What truly induces transformative
learning?
 Key developmental experiences?
 What do entrepreneurship classes
actually do?
 HOW do we support? (ecosystem?)

13. Transformative Learning
• There is excellent theory to support
– Constructivism
– Mental prototyping, role identity
– Cognitive developmental psych
– Cognitive & social neuroscience
• There is excellent empirical evidence
– Even in entrepreneurial settings!
– Changes in key mental prototypes
• And a lot more data about to be released
• 2011: ISEEO, GUESSS; 2012: Neergaard

14. Keys to Transformative
Learning
• “Book Throwing”
– Constructivist versus Behaviorist
– Entrep educators have always been
constructivistic (cue Voltaire)
• Neuro-entrepreneurship?*
– Neuroplasticity
– Emotions
– Deep beliefs (Neo, take the...)
• Centrality of Action
* if curious http://www.slideshare.net/norriskrueger/icsb-
2010-neuroentrepreneurship

15. Accelerating Learning
• Problem-Based Learning (“authentic”
questions)
• Two overlapping themes:
• IMMERSION – Action before thinking
• MENTORING – Learn the right lessons
– Expert mentors
– Peer mentors
– Or THREE? Ecosystem that supports all of
this?
– Social infrastructure; cognitive infrastructure
– http://bit/ly/EcoSys

16. So what IS this “entrepreneurial
mindset” anyway??
• Thoughts? Which are the hardest to change?
– (More important for here... what can we measure?)
Seeing opportunities
• Seeing self as entrepreneur (role identity)
• Strategic thinking
• Dot-connecting / pattern recognition
• Effectual thinking (bricolage, improv)
• Optimist (attributional)
• Metacognition
• Counterfactual thinking
• Bias for action (vs. FoF!)
• Value creation as sine qua non (Market-pull?)

17. Replicable models of
entrepreneurial learning
 Key entrepreneurial training
methods maximize entrepreneurial
learning
deep, transformative learning
 Existing practices that demonstrably
grow entrepreneurial thinking
 Concrete examples:
program level
course level

18. Existing Best Practices
 that demonstrably grow
entrepreneurial thinking...
Action learning
 e.g., Living cases
Problem-based learning
Counterfactual thinking
Explicit script building
Active reflection (collaborative)

19. But….
 Not just universities
 It is the entire ecosystem
 Follow the entrepreneurs
 Help them!

20. Immersion/Mentoring
 Chalmers/Gothenburg
 NU Singapore
 The Foundry (Utah)
http://business.utah.edu/node/1203/
 TechStars (www.techstars.org)
 Startup Weekend
www.startupweekend.org
 Lean Startup
http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/successful
-entrepreneurship-1

21. Critical Implications
 For teaching? For training?
 For practice?
 For public policy?
 (and... for research?)

22. Implications: Teaching
 Need to be constructivistic
 Need to understand entrepreneurial
thinking
 Need to understand expert thinking
 Need to address deep beliefs
 Instructor MUST understand – or
share- the expert mindset.

23. Implications: Public Policy
 Entrepreneurial Potential = F(quantity
and quality of potential entrepreneurs)
 Promote educational activities that
nurture expert entrepreneurial thinking .
 Support similar mechanisms for
growing an entrepreneurial community
 Program leaders MUST understand –
or share- the expert mindset.

24. Implications: for
Entrepreneurs
 Work toward expert thinking – lifelong
process?
 Understand their own deep beliefs
 Good entrepreneurs are good at dot-
connecting; great entrepreneurs...
 Make sure your advisors understand
the “Entrepreneur Mind”(tm).

25. To those who want to really
make a difference:
 We know how to teach individuals
(and organizations and
communities) to think more
entrepreneurially.
 We now understand why and how.
 How can we translate these insights
into helping communities
worldwide?

26. If you want to get involved in
projects – research or applied:
 Norris Krueger:
norris.krueger@gmail.com
@entrep_thinking
Facebook
LinkedIn

27. Implications: Research
 Focus on expert entrepreneurial
thinking
 Focus on emotions
 Focus on cognitive change
 Focus on deep cognitive change
 Take advantage of:
Multi-disciplinary approaches
New tools – theory & method
 Take advantage of... us

28. Research Agenda:
Antecedents & Consequences
 Antecedents
Impact of teaching/training methods
Impact of instructor characteristics (e.g.,
mental models)
Impact of context (including students)
Developmental experiences?

29. Research Agenda:
Antecedents & Consequences
 Consequences
Change in intent (Informed intent?)
Change in knowledge content?
Change in knowledge structure?
Change in deep beliefs?
How will we know?
 Better dot-connecting?
 Amygdala lights up differently?